Monster
by Willow-the-Manslayer
Summary: Senri Shiki went missing from his room one night. When he came back, he wasn't the same. He couldn't remember what happened, and now he is slowly transforming into a Level E. Who can help him now? FIRST TWO CHAPTERS REWRITTEN. Review please!
1. Chapter 1

Yes, I have rewritten this chapter. No, I do not own Vampire Knight. Yes, I am painfully in love with the Shikijou pairing. REVIEW.

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Senri Shiki woke up thirsty, alone, and confused. His head throbbed painfully and he could feel the sticky, disgusting feeling of dried blood on his face. When he opened his eyes, he was overwhelmed by red. There was red everywhere. The moon was the brightest ruddy color he had ever seen, the normally-black sky was tinted a dark crimson, and, as he painfully adjusted his neck to glance at the ground, he saw that the grass he was currently laying on was red, as well. It appeared as if the whole globe was painted with the blood of a thousand innocent humans.

'A lunar eclipse,' he deduced absently as he attempted to figure out where in the world he was. A groan emitted from his perfectly-full lips when he sat up to fully map out his surroundings. Unfortunately, when he did so, the pain that was had resided in the back of his mind came back full-force, his vision was overrun by ebony-black spots that danced across his mind and caused him to dizzily fall back against the soft grass below him. As his back hit the ground, however, a blindingly agonizing sensation caused him to gasp raggedly and endeavor to keep his weight off his back. Nothing seemed to work, so he resolved to take his chances with sitting up rather than face the atrocious pain of his seemingly-broken back. His attempt was more fruitful the second time around, and he was able to lean forward, albeit he still had to keep himself held up by putting most of his wait in his arms.

Thankfully, he could now see more of his surroundings. He seemed to be in a large clearing in the midst of a forest. The clearing had flowers adorned across it, that would have been beautiful were it not for the bloody overcoat surrounding it, due to the eclipse. It created the effect that they were bleeding out, wilting, dying. For some strange reason, perhaps due to his disorienting awakening, Shiki almost felt sorry for those moribund flowers. After all, it was not yet winter. Why did they have to die now?

He was roughly shaken from his melancholy musings by a sudden sharp stab of pain coming from his left ankle. Apparently, now that he could see the full extent of the morbidly beauteous field, he must now recognize all of his horrifyingly brutal injuries, as well. Once again, it appears as if all good things must have a tragedy that followed.

"Every action has an equal and opposite reaction," quoted Shiki as he stared at the blood dribbling down the long, deep wound stretching across almost his entire right leg and the odd, agonizing angle that his left ankle was contorted into. There was also a gunshot wound ('From a Bloody Rose gun, no doubt,' Shiki reasoned) directly below his heart that let out a constant, quick flow of that red liquid that sustained life...

'Blood,' the vampire halfheartedly reminded himself in his head, 'That's what it's called... blood.'

Perhaps it was the blood loss getting to him, or maybe it was the pounding, rhythmical torment that invaded his head ('A headache,' concluded Shiki), but he was oddly calm about this whole situation. Well, after all, he could barely remember his name, let alone think of a plan to leave the enchanting forest. His mind was so hazy, so fuzzy, like the feeling of a puffy cloud moving across a perpetually blue sky. He just wanted to sleep, because sleep was nice... it helps with everything... everything...

All of a sudden, the scent of freshly-spilled blood practically smacked the injured vampire in the face, not necessarily waking his mind up, rather, it assisted his thirsty vampiric instincts in taking control. The extent of Shiki's thought processes was mentally chanting "_blood... blood... blood... blood..._" throughout almost the entirety of the night after that. The unbearable burning of his throat led him across the whole forest and, as it turns out, to the doors of the Mood Dormitories in Cross Academy, where he and the rest of the group of vampires around that particular area of Japan resided. Bursting through the entrance, every single one of his senses improved drastically and tuned in to the scent of the delicious food so that he could locate the source of the lifeblood... and suck it dry!

"Shiki!"

The insane, maniacal, cat-like grin that started to emerge on Shiki's face dissolved with the calling of his name. He quickly turned his attention to the other vampire in the room, looking him over, as if weighing the tastiness of his food before a meal. During the quick scan of the "prey," as he had taken to thinking of him as, it was discovered that the smell of blood was, in fact, originating from the male standing in front of him. It was time for a feast...

Ichijou was ecstatic. He had been worried sick about Shiki because he had been missing all week. One night, the he woke up and Shiki was just... gone. It just looked like he vanished into thin air, because there was no struggle noticed whatsoever. Everyone was quite confused and distressed, but Ichijou believed that he was the one that cared the most about the auburn vampire. Despite that, the whole entire Night Class (plus Yuuki, as she was extremely close to Kaname) took turns searching endlessly for Shiki, to no avail. It was as if he had just disappeared off the face of the Earth with how little evidence was left behind. Rima, Ruka, Aidou, and Kain were out taking their rounds right now, while Ichijou stayed in the dormitories with Kaname. Yuuki was sleeping in her Day Class dorm room to the insistence of the head Kuran. Ichijou skipped merrily over to Shiki, for the sole purpose of hugging him for the rest of eternity, but was alarmed when a growl was uttered from the mouth of his lifelong best friend. He took a slight step back and gasped as he finally noticed Shiki's bright crimson eyes, illuminating the room with their glow. At his stunned reaction, Shiki smirked and darkly chuckled, taking his time to stalk his prey like a lion on the hunt, circling around the other vampire with a look of pure, raw bloodlust captured on his face.

Shiki paid no heed to the endless ramblings of "What are you doing?" and "No, Shiki, stop!" from his food as he pushed the blood-container up against the wall of the room, growling softly. After a moment of relishing the fear on his prey's face, he pounced. When the ferocious insertion of his fangs in the victim's neck was over with, all that was left was pleasure. The lifeblood that entered his system overwhelmed him and caused him to float in a cloud of bliss and ecstasy that couldn't die down as long as this moment lasted. He could feel the energy and adrenalin pumping through his veins and he moaned mentally... he wished this moment would never end.

Ichijou gasped as the quick, sharp pain of Shiki's fangs being inserted in his neck appeared, but that pain swiftly succumbed to the pleasurable feeling that overpowered and aroused him when the drug of a vampire feeding took over. Every vampire has a drug in his saliva that could be optionally inserted into a victim if they were struggling. The drug caused them to go limp with only the feeling of the moment coursing throughout their body. It was even more potent with Ichijou because, in the midst of the purely hunger-related feeding, there were passionate emotions between these two vampires, even in Shiki's state of mind. Ichijou groaned with joy and calmly accepted what was going on, giving himself completely to the other male. Much like Shiki did, he wished this moment would never end.

Kaname, who was upstairs in his dorm room, seemed to disagree. After catching a whiff of blood, he knew instantly to whom it belongs, and raced down to the sitting room of the Mood Dorm, intending to put an end to what was going on.

"Shiki!" Kaname shouted in surprise after realizing that the vampire who was currently attached to Ichijou's neck was indeed the missing student. Neither the predator nor the prey seemed to notice the newcomer to the room. Not even the lazy grin that was planted on Ichijou's neck moved one millimeter.

"Shiki!" he voiced again as he moved over to the two vampires that were currently involved in one of the most passionate actions in the vampire world. He used his full strength to rip the two apart, but it seemed that neither of them was very happy about it. Ichijou gifted him with one last betrayed gaze as he collapsed to the floor in a heap from blood loss, and Shiki gave a short growl at the loss of his food before sniffing the air a few times like a cat sniffing out the next mouse to eat. Kaname couldn't help but voice his astonishment in the form of an almost-soundless gasp when he caught sight of Shiki's eyes. They were the brightest crimson eyes that he had ever seen, even on the hungriest of vampires. They were even brighter than the eyes of a Level E.

Shiki used this moment of trepidation to his advantage. In a mere instant, Shiki was behind the Kuran, his arms wrapped around the other man's upper body, his fangs in his neck. While his first snack was more satisfying, he wasn't going to complain about blood. Strangely, though, the bloodthirsty haze covering the auburn's mind slowly receded after each long gulp of the pureblood's scrumptious life essence. Once he had full control over his actions once more and realized what exactly he was doing, time appeared to be at a standstill. His hold over Kaname weakened and the Kuran dropped to the floor, still fully conscious, unlike Ichijou, but with eyes glazed and widened with shock.

"I – I'm sorry..."

Those were the last words verbalized by Shiki before he rapidly fled from the situation and up the dormitory stairs, curling up in a ball in the corner of his bedroom.


	2. Chapter 2

YAY! I rewrote the second chapter, too! I'm so happy because before, those chapters sucked. Haha, this might not be as good as the first chapter, considering I wrote this at 2 in the morning, but ENJOY~! :)

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Shiki was terrified. Indeed, he was more terrified than he had ever been in his entire life, and that was saying quite a lot. He had dealt with his dysfunctional family, including his destructive father (who had actually possessed him before) and his unstable mother who needed to drink his blood to survive, among other things that he would rather not think of at the moment. He had never thought that he could ever, _ever_, sink to this kind of low. He was born and raised in a high social status, so how could this possibly happen to him? It just couldn't happen. It can't be happening.

"It can't be happening... it can't be happening... it can't be happening..."

That was what he whispered to himself over and over again as he rocked back and forth in the corner of the room as a sense of comfort. It's just too bad that what he wanted so desperately to believe just couldn't come true...

Downstairs, Ichijou awakened to a room full of his friends. Rima, Ruka, Aidou, and Kain were surrounding the sofa that he was lying on, impatient to see if he was okay, their faces filled with distress. Kaname was seated in the chair across from him, concern for him clear in his eyes, but with a subtle, faint expression of shock still frozen on his face from the recent events. Ichijou only had one thing on his mind at the moment, however, and that was where Shiki was.

'Was Shiki okay? What happened after I lost consciousness? Shiki didn't get in any trouble, did he?'

Those were the only thoughts that continuously raced through his mind as he became aware of where he was. Brushing off everyone's attempt to ask him if he was feeling okay, he immediately tried to get up to search for the auburn vampire, much to the protest of his aching limbs. Still, he persisted, wiggling slightly off the sofa to the best of his ability, when Rima tried to gently push him back down.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked, a soft, yet idle, smile on her face as she stared affectionately at her friend. "You need to rest, or that ache you're feeling right now will magnify tenfold the next time you want to move."

Despite the rational side of Ichijou's brain being grateful to Rima for her compassion, the feral side won this mental argument, and a growl appeared out of his mouth before he could help it. His eyes widened a tiny fraction because of his own actions, but he defended himself by staying strong and confident. He needed to find Shiki. Now.

Although Kaname prided himself on his cool and composed exterior, he really was alarmed by the growl that Ichijou had directed at Rima. It wasn't like the perpetually tranquil blonde to let his emotions get in the way of any social interactions. It certainly wasn't normal when, after that, Ichijou asked in a dark, urgent voice where Shiki was, too. Making sure to keep his expression eerily blank, as usual, unlike everyone else in the room who showed their alarm quite clearly on their faces, he pointedly glanced in the direction of the stairs for Ichijou to see once his eyes met his. Nodding his thanks with a glance of relief tossed in the elder vampire's direction, he rushed hurriedly up the stairs. Kaname had a distinct feeling that something interesting was going to happen very soon.

Urgent thoughts raced through Ichijou's nearly-panicked brain as he dashed up the dormitory stairs. The worries seemed to fly through his brain so quickly that he barely had any time to dwell on each one at all before they disappeared entirely, only to return a moment later. It was a constant, unbreakable chain of distressed thoughts that would only perish completely once he was near Shiki. He needed to see Shiki right that moment.

Not a millisecond later, Shiki was in his line of vision, although not in the position that Ichijou would've wanted to see him in. Shiki was absolutely perfect when he smiled... that genuine smile illuminated the entirety of Japan, possibly even the whole world, in the duration of his happiness. There was no smile in sight right now. Only a small trail of not-yet-dried tears streaming down the auburn vampire's face, with the wetness of his eyes causing a glazed look to appear in them, almost making it seem like he could not see through them at all. To be completely honest, it frightened Ichijou. He never wanted to see anything except pure joy and love on Shiki's face. No man would want to see the person they love unhappy.

Ichijou froze. Did that thought really just pop into his mind? Does he really love Shiki? After gazing into the other man's eyes once more, the answers to those questions were easily accessible. Of course he was in love with Shiki. He always has been...

Shiki didn't notice when Ichijou appeared in the room that they shared together in the dormitories. Nor did he notice when the other vampire's strangely-warm arms wrapped around his body in a comforting embrace. He was too caught up in the terror that overwhelmed him due to the events that had previously occurred. How could he have done something like that to Kaname? More importantly, how could he have done something like that to Ichijou? He didn't deserve to live. He would rather be dead than hurt his precious Ichijou, More streams of water flowed down from his widened eyes, only to get wiped up by his roommate's delicate finger on his face. The touch of the blonde was all it took for Shiki to snap out of his daze, and his attention quickly shifted to Ichijou's beautiful face.

"Shiki," the vampire whispered fondly in the auburn's ear, "please tell me what's been going on. Please..."

A refusal was on the verge of making itself known, but it died on Shiki's lips as he caught sight of the silent plea on the other man's face. Giving a heavy sight, he prepared himself to tell his painful story.

"You see," he started quietly, "I just woke up in a clearing in the woods... I had no idea how I had come to be there. I can't remember anything that happened this week before that point-"

Throughout the retelling, Ichijou listened aptly to ever single detail, not wanting to miss any melodious world that could possibly come out of Shiki's mouth. He was a perfect audience member: wincing at the parts about his injuries, widening his eyes at the descriptions of his state of mind, and offering comfort when necessary. Shiki's narration captivated him from the very start, although he certainly didn't want to hear anything more of it after that day... not if it caused the other vampire any pain.

"Well," he expressed after Shiki was finished, "I'm not going to lie and tell you that everything is okay at this moment or that I know exactly what to do. What I will tell you, however, is that everything is _going _to be okay. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next week, but it will happen. That is my promise to you because I love you. I really do."

Shiki gazed into Ichijou's eyes at first with doubt. But after seeing the unmistakable love and admiration in the blonde's emerald eyes, there was no mistaking that what he said was the truth. Rather than reciprocating his feelings through words like the other man often did, Shiki did what he did best: act. The kiss that was soon shared between the two vampires went above and beyond any and all fantasies that both of them had of kissing each other. This was magic. A luminous, glowing light surrounded both males, lighting their path for the future. The mutual thought that 'maybe not everything is hopeless in the world yet' passed between them both as they peacefully fell asleep in each others arm.

"So," Kaname murmured as he witnessed the work of magic, "It looks like those two really are soul bonded, after all. Thing will surely become interesting now."

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Wow. I kinda felt weird writing in Kaname at the end here because he looks like a perverted stalker... lol, oh well. REVIEW!


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